MIAMI — It's been eight months since Chien-Ming Wang last started a game for the Nationals, a 4-3 victory over the Braves in which the veteran right-hander allowed just one run over six innings. The Nats re-signed Wang for $4 million shortly after the season ended and expected him to open 2012 in their starting rotation.

Then Wang suffered a scary-looking hamstring injury during spring training, and those plans had to be revised. He finally returned from the disabled list last week in Philadelphia, made a long relief appearance Friday in Atlanta and tonight will make his much anticipated first start of the season in Miami.

Wang will be opposed by Josh Johnson, the designated ace of the Marlins staff who has pitched like anything but an ace so far this year (2-3, 4.87 ERA). On the other hand, Johnson has never lost to the Nationals in 14 career starts (7-0, 3.14 ERA).

Meanwhile, one night after doubling in his first career at-bat, Jhonatan Solano makes his debut behind the plate. Sadly, brother Donovan is not in Miami's lineup. Updates and analysis to come from Marlins Park (where it's currently pouring, with the roof wide open)…

I don't get why the roof isn't closed – trying to water the grass? This just seems odd. Our line up these days has at least one third to one half players that we originally thought would be in Syracuse or on the bench. Obviously they are at least holding their own out there and getting some major league experience and playing time.Question for you — I thought LoMo was an outfielder? He plays first now? Was that always the case? Go Nats – please don't let the fish wriggle off the line tonight!

Nice lineup given all the injuries. I guess too many rookies in the OF with Brown over Bernadina ??We gotta hit boys…we don't have Reyes, Ramirez, Stanton caliber hitters yet.I think Harper can be among those but I don't see anyone else that matches up with those three (Sorry Ryan and Adam) in our lineup…Maybe Morse after he returns.

Funny stuff, guys. Another question for you, since I am in an inquisitive kind of mood. How many different outfield alignments do you think we have used in 49 games? Every day I check for the outfield "DuJour". You never know. Waiting to see who surprises me tonight. Last night it was Corey Brown with the suicide squeeze. A very nice one, indeed.

swami: Logan Morrison moved to 1B when the Marlins sent Gaby Sanchez down to AAA. Before this year he seems to have had only one game at 1B as a major leaguer. But he seems to have started out at 1B in the minors, before being converted to OF — presumedly because the Marlins knew they had Mr. Sanchez coming up through their system.

of course, our pitching is what stands out compared with the rest of the NL East.Atlanta, Mets, Marlins, Phillies have or will have at least 2 reliable super hitters in their lineups…but can I name them of the top of my head ?Marlins: Reyes, Ramirez, StantonPhillies : Victorina, Howard when healthyBraves: Heywood, McCann, Freeman when he can see….Mets : David Wright…

Morrison has also been troubled by knee issues, so playing first takes some of the stress off of that while keeping his bat in the lineup.Jeff (and others) remember that LaRoche is a notoriously slow starter, so he may just be sliding back to what he usually does in the first half of the season, but after a tremendous start.

And I think the Marlins leaving the roof open while it's raining is absurd and the Nats should call them on it and play under protest to MLB. This is exactly how someone is going to get hurt, playing on a wet outfield that has no business being wet.

jeffwx, you're giving Reyes WAY too much credit. His OPS at the moment is .681. That would put him around 6th among current Nationals regulars, behind LaRoche, Harper, Lombo, Desmond and Zimmerman. For all of them but Zimmerman it's not closeYeah, he's had one or two great seasons among lots of injury-plagued ones. But so have many of our players. If they don't get credit for what they've done in the past, why does Reyes?FWIW, Hanley's current .796 OPS also checks in well behind both LaRoche and Harper. Sure it seems like he's been killing us for years, but let's not pretend we're playing the Rangers tonight.

BB, And Ty Cobb's career OPS was worse at times. Reyes is of course not a power hitter but I find Hanley, Reyes and Stanton to be premier hitters like a Harper will be, a Morse was last year. Reyes can flat out hit…not with power but he is special (anyone who bats .341 and gets a batting title is a run producer.) and Zimmerman could be when healthy. Two ifs for this year but our pitching more than compensates and if Morse hits like he did last season, then we have what we need. Next year, Morse at first, Adam is gone and Michael Bourne wears a curly W (Harper/Bourne/Werth) I:(Morse/Espi/Desmond/Zimm/Ramos)B: Lombo/Brown/Bernadina/Tracey.P: Stras/Gio/Zimm/Wang?/Det? World Champs in 13

Could be worse….The Pirates and O's of the 90's (1890's would water down the side of the rubber that the opposing pitcher was using so that it would be like pitching in mud, put soap chips in the dirt so the pitchers could not get a grip, pad foul territory so it could roll back fair, pack the field in front of the plate so hard, one could hit a…Baltimore chop…Maybe the fish want the outfield wet so Harper gets one less triple ?

Pinocchio dolphin, anyone?I think a serving a fried fish for dinner is in order! (Or Sushi)!er, not sure about that turn of phrase, Sunshine, given recent events with our catchers.Let's ride this Solano ship until it busts.On a game note: Go, Wang! Go, NATS!! Don't go, FISH!!

Doesnt the grass need the rain? Sunshine Bobby, this surely must be the first Taiwanese-Colombian combo in MLB history! I am hoping for an extra striping outting from CMW abd enough run support to depress the Miami fans all night. May the Solano family feel even more proud tonight.

jeffwx, I understang that you like Reyes. I just don't understand why you're giving him the benefit of the doubt but not Zimmerman, when Zimmerman is both a better hitter this season and a better hitter historically if you look at OPS.I'm 100% in agreement with you next year- things look great, and Bourn would make them look even greater. I hope he's the #1 target in free agency, and I think he probably will be.

Have we learned anything from the early days of the Astrodome:The actual dome was 18 stories above the playing field and consisted of "Lucite" skylights that were planned to allow the natural grass playing field to stay alive. However, these translucent panels presented a problem. During afternoon games outfielders were blinded by the sunlight. Thirty percent of the panels were coated with paint to reduce the problem but that caused another problem. The natural grass playing field died because enough sunlight was not reaching it. A new type of turf that became famous at stadiums throughout the country during the 1970s was developed. Named after the team, Astroturf was a green surface of nylon grass.

jeffwx said… LaRoche is cooling down….4 for his last 38 or .105 BA.Maybe he could use a rest more so than Zimm. May 30, 2012 4:09 PM ___________________________I said it 2 weeks ago that the guy needed a break and many other said it too. At the time, they could have put Tracy or Tyler Moore at 1st. Instead Davey kept putting LaRoche out there because he represented the best bat. A shame to see him cool off so much.

BB, agreed…If Zimmerman can stay healthy, I agree that he can be a premier hitter like he was in 2009-2010.Harper, of course, looks great. I'd love to see Harper/Morse/Zimmerman be our big 3 that we could stack up against any other team in the NL East.Atlanta: Bourne/Heywood/McCann/Freeman/Prado ?Miami: Stanton/Rameriz/ReyesPhils: Howard/Ruiz/VictorinoMets: Wright/???? Zimmerman, If he can stay healthy, will be part of our big 3.

Gonat, LaRoche is simply regressing to the mean. Did you consider the possibility that he was extremely lucky when he was sizzling hot and is less so now? LaRoche is not a .350 hitter and he's not a .150 hitter. He's now at .282 .378 .515 which is still very good. There were people advocating that we exercise his option for next year now and also add 2 more years and I said at the time that there's no rush to do any of this and you certainly don't do it off one hot month.

JD, he went into a slump because he was very tired. He has regressed because he was over-used. No, he is not a .350 hitter but he could be a .300 hitter. I've sadly seen it too many times before with over-use. Cal Ripken is retired. Most players need an extra day off here and there and Cal did too.I liked when Davey called it a mental break.

Solano is in the lineup so Flores get an extra day off, and Johnson can decide who he wants — Solano or Leon — when Leon becomes available (whenever that is; nobody seems to know/be interested). Not because he got a hit last night.

Sorry Gonat, LaRoche is a lifetime .268 hitter and you generally don't get better at the age of 32. I don't buy that he's a .300 hitter; he never hit .300 once in his career. I also don't buy the tired argument; it's May not August and he did have several days off due to injury.

jeffwx, you're giving Reyes WAY too much credit. His OPS at the moment is .681. That would put him around 6thWhy are you looking only at OPS? His OBP is .342, which isn't bad, but, as we all know, he wrecks havoc on the basepaths. He has 15 SB already, and has scored more runs than anyone on the Nats other than Ian.Further, he had an awful start (as many guys with big contracts do their first year — Werth?) While he batted .220 in April, in May he's batting .292 with an OBP of .377How many times have we seen guys like him: because of his speed he gets on base with either a walk, or error because of a hurried throw (or a bunt or other infield hit), steals second, takes third on a grounder, scores on a sac fly, and: boom, it's 1-0 and nobody even hot a hit yet (or, only an infield hit).I hate when opposing players do that!I'm not saying his doing great this year . . . but he's pretty darn good (and a pain-in-the-butt opponent) despite his current stats.

Gonat said… JD, he went into a slump because he was very tired. He has regressed because he was over-used.I dunno. The team got a day off just six days ago — last Thursday. On Friday he went 0-for-4. But then on Saturday and SundayLaRoche went 3-for-7 with 2 doubles and two walks. So, I don't see how it's so obvious that he's tired. I mean — he might be, but he was raking on Sat and Sun — who could have guessed he'd follow that with two hitless games? Most people were thinking he was coming out of his slump, no?

Ron in Reston– LOL! Good one! ________________________________________________And I think the Marlins leaving the roof open while it's raining is absurd and the Nats should call them on it and play under protest to MLB. This is exactly how someone is going to get hurt, playing on a wet outfield that has no business being wet.

Mark tweeted that as of tonight we will have had 5 different starting catchers and are only now going to our sixth starting pitcher.That's just insane. Well – good on the pitchers, crazy on the catchers. Let's not go any deeper. Will there be a Detweiler sighting from the bullpen tonight?

natslady – last night's pnats anthem — worst ever – not only multiple key changes, but actual register changes. Couldn't find the melody anywhere – even the "civilians" were noticing. Non- musicians may ignore this post. There were scant few of us fans there, too. I think the threat of bad weather scared some people away. Mikey had his big smile on, though.

You're a professional athlete and you're 32 years old. You just took a whole year off rehabilitating you're shoulder. Returning to the grind of a 162 game schedule should be fairly taxing. I can see a need for periodic off days for LaRoche.

I am thinking that Detweiler is available from today on — if CMW doesn't need it ( yeah, right) than he could follow strassie the next time. That would be some combination – right handed power followed by left handed power. Don't know if they will try to keep Det on some kind of schedule to eventually have him move back to the rotation when Stras is toast or if they will just treat him like any other reliever. Should be interesting.

NatsJack — I made the same point about Zim – periodic days off may prevent dl time later on. Coming off the dl or a long absence, they surely tire more easily. Zim and LaRoche both look tired to me. Lombo could cover for Zim and I am sure that someone can play first – not as well as ALR, of course, but I am sure than can play. When MM comes back he could do some time there, too. Or are we done with that?

JD said… Sorry Gonat,LaRoche is a lifetime .268 hitter and you generally don't get better at the age of 32. I don't buy that he's a .300 hitter; he never hit .300 once in his career.I also don't buy the tired argument; it's May not August and he did have several days off due to injury. May 30, 2012 5:22 PM ___________________________LaRoche is a slow starter and was historically around .210 in April and .289 in July and .314 in August and .287 in Sept

MicheleS: yes, that's the shot I was talking about. It could simply be an issue of space available in that graphic, but I realize that wouldn't fit in with Internet conspiracy theories so y'all should just run with it.

Get out! Maldonado has a sore back?!? Jeez Louise. We don't have anybody left! Is the potential trade for the BosSox back up guy rumor still active? I'd bet that ALR is tired. The schedule tires ME out, and all I do is watch, yell, clap and type. And occasionally eat too many hotdogs.

Our fifth string catcher and our fragile, high-maintenance old guy pitcher in his first start since last fall. This could be interesting. Of course, the Marlins execute getting the run in – the Nats don't. Have you seen this movie before? It does not end well. LaRoche maybe needs a mental health day. Lombo and Zim hit the ball hard right off though!! Friday we could see Morse and JFlo at Natspark – can I get a "Hallelujah"?

I wish Davey would quite d?icking around with Nady and Bernadina AND GET Brown IN THERE WHILE HE'S HOT!!! He was thrashing left handers as well as right handers Davey. WTF you're starting to become Riggleman II. And that would be at the very least, counterproductive.

Gonat, a tweet from someone said JFlo Friday.Too many walking wounded as it is (see Zimmerman, Ryan and perhaps Morse, Michael and still wondering about Espinosa, Danny) as well as guys on the DL. I don't think Jesus Flores is going to be anything other than insurance for a while. Solano and Maldonado have it covered.

We didn't get a hit with RISP, but we did get a scarafice fly. As I mentioned in my note last night Bernadina is the best (not counting tracy) at getting runners in on the team with RISP. Proved it again.

A couple years ago we had a former major league steal guy who coached the baserunners. Who was that? Seems like that was the last time we were good at it. Maybe he coached nyger that first year? He was good at stealing then because he actually got on base.

That foot is going to be ugly later on tonight – if Bryce can get his shoe off. He will fight through it, but that's going to hurt. So glad that guys have an off day tomorrow and play at home on Friday. It doesn't get any easier, though – more NLEast Beasts. Freddie Freeman back playing and hit a HR.

Drew said… Matt Purke gave up 5 earned in 5 innings in Hagerstown. Yikes. May 30, 2012 8:06 PM ___________________________Not as bad as it looks. Tough 2nd inning and probably hasn't built up the arm strength to throw as many pitches he threw. Gave up 2 in the 2nd and 3 in the 5th.

Note to KZim the last pitch to Standton looked like a slider though it might not have beem. but low away is where you put it.Remirez looked safe to me, but heck we are owed a lot from umps so I am not cmplaining.

and that was indeed 2 sliders in a row to get Stanton. Well said Steve, you have said that is how to pitch him many times but that was what JZim tried to do on a slider that didn't slide which is the issue with hanging a slider.

We are very lucky to have such good beat writers and since she is a frequent guest on beltway baseball, I don't think Mark would mind the plug to Amanda. This is just a great story about Wilson and how he is trying to help raise money for a child in need.Victoria Cabrera

That was much better RISPing. Desi got the runner to third, drawn in infield gave Espi big hole and he hit it. Bernadina aters take note another RBI. I was shocked though he was out at third, I thought with his speed that would be an easy triple.

Can't listen for a while… Reading game day. What was the injury delay in the top of the inning? It was past the point of Harper getting hit in the foot. They didn't give a player's name. Nor a team for that matter…

What is this all about, I get back to the TV (soory I ahve to comute to the room), and he throws 4 more balls. That make no sense to me at all. We give these pitchers leads in this series and so far they fail to keep it. Maybe Wang can change this.

I am glad Lmobardozzi can hit because he sure can't throw. that ball was in medium left at firthest, and the runner tags and goes up. That should never happen. Sure wouldn't happen for us well maybe for Harper).

Our starters in all 3 games have betrayed us. we get leads and they ccan;t do the job and hold it.Of course Wang ticked me off walking two to start the inning. I hate walks.(except maybe to Stanton, but not to their weak hitters, and that is what Wang did)

The thing that irritates me the most is that everyone always makes so many acommodations for this FORMER great pitcher. He can't pitch out of the bullpen – well he got a win from there the last time he pitched! He needs a lot of time to warm up, it's his first start back, yadda, yadda, yadda. His glory days are over – now he's just high-maintenance.

Great Post Swami! That's what I meant about the 5.8 runs…A lot of pitchers can win with that. I've never understood the organization's infatuation with this guy…but one start is not a season, and Miami has a great line up. I always hold out hope…

Lombo didn't let them tie it up Joe…that is on the coaching staff for having him too deep with a pitcher hitting and on Wang for walking the first two hitters. Give me a break!!! That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Do you really think Morse makes that play???

I am really frustrated that Wang hit for himself right now — but I am so impressed by Lombardozzi, Bryce and Solano. By all rights they should all three be in Syracuse but they are up here battling and playing hard and learning. It is just so much fun to watch them. Bryce hits the ball just soooo hard! Lombo is just a smart, gritty baseball player. Solano has an arm and passion. Quality guys. It's sometimes hard for me to chill out and realize that we are in first place and really shouldn't be with the losses we have taken and who is playing these games. Bernie having himself a game, too. If they can just hold on and keep battling….

Gonat said… Why is Wang batting when you have other relievers? Come on Davey. Tomorrow is a day off. Bring in Perry. May 30, 2012 8:45 PM _______________________By the way, I wrote this 15 minutes ago before the top of the 5th.I am sick and tired of throwing away win-able games.

So now you bring Ross in? When there is a big, bad jam? What ever happened to letting guys start with a clean inning? So you demote him and then his first time out of the pen you put him in this situation? Come on! This had to have been the plan to piggyback them. Tomorrow is a day off! Sheesh…..

When the Braves had to change catchers last weekend their announcers talked about how smart the pitcher was to slow the pace down. Not the catcher you are used to. Well how many different catchers has Det had the last month. Seems he always got the relief catcher of the week. How much does that throw off a pitcher ? NJ?

Lucky to get out of that mess with only one run scoring. But then the "heart"? of our order eases things up on the opposing pitcher instead of bearing down on him. djinFl — I have been thinking that the catching carousel has been tough on the staff.FP always says — "good teams answer" – we'll see…

Last inning if Davey pinch-hit for Wang he wouldn't even had needed a double switch with Wang as the 1st batter.I'm still upset about the decisions in this game, but all in all, Wang fell apart on the team.

MicheleS said… So Gonat.. what you are saying is things could be worse. Right? May 30, 2012 9:21 PM ____________________________Oh yes. I don't even think the offensive minded Rangers can come back from that deficit.

Anybody else missing John Lannan??? I know I am!!! Why do Detwiler and Wang get the chance to fail before a guy who has proven to be an effective starter the last three years? Neither Wang nor Detwiler has proven anything. You may not like Lannan and his walks, but he made it through 6 innings or more with 3 runs or less 17 times last year and made it through 5 innings with 2 runs or less 7 times. That is 24 solid starts out of 33. Of the other 9 starts, 3 of the bad ones were against the Phillies, 2 were in April last year and 1 was when he got drilled in the head by the line drive. The other guys needed to beat him out (in the regular season)…not the other way around!!! I am so sick of hearing about the potential of Detwiler and Wang!!!

Why Perry, bad move Davey, this guy is horrible. bum! I guess Davey can have a coaching night too and this was it.Solano is impressive. After 50 games, I think Wang needs 2-3 more starts, if he does not improve it is clear we need a 5th starter. I am done with Detweiler as starter, it is Wang or back to the drawing board.

Gonat, how about Burnett, i know he is southpaw, but i have more confidence in him than either Henry or Perry. Having said that, i would take Henry over Perry anytime, and that is sadwe should be hitting Jackson, this is just a bad series, everyone stunk including the coaching. Solano and Lombo are the only ones who played well, the rest were awful

Just saw a Curlie W in the lobby of this hotel in San Diego. Former Expos follower current Nats fan, daily reader of Insider JackP says hi. Wants a woohoo from michelleS. But our guys have to give her a reason for it.

If this game doesn't look like nats circa 2009 and 2010. Get an early lead. Starting pitchers screws up and gives up lead. Hitters quit after the 4th inning. Though Harper hit two hard ones. Maybe they can do something in the 9thm but they sure looked like they took the rest of the night off after getting ahead 3-1 to me.

Awesome Drew, just awesome…And Solano's first name is def cool….Hang in there True Believers, it's going to be fun to have a rival to to overcome..Marlins are the better team today, but maybe not by the end of the year

Seems like every time this team loses a key player ( Werth, Ramos) they go into a funk or adjustment period. No Tracy or JFlo this series. Hot in Hotlanta – Ice cold in Miami. I hate the fish, I hate their ugly new park, I hate Hanley and Reyes and Ozzie and the Fish in general. Nats come home – Morse join them — all of the rest of you, get well and come home,too. Do baseball teams have homecomings? Maybe we need to have one later this season. Silver lining – Bryce is always exciting, and Solano looks to be a special player. The young guys are fun to watch.

2 days of luck from Bell hopefully ends tonight. I will say it again, Heath Bell sucked before the Nats series and Ankiel in the 1st game of the series gave him confidence after he couldn't find the strike zone and Ankiel swung and missed at 2 balls well out of the strike zone.

SteveM-It's funny I made that same argument about 2 months ago and about 25 people jumped down my throat about how horrible Lannan was as a major league pitcher, especially Peric. However, I actually tend to agree with Peric on most everything else (except for the value of some of our "prospects"), but on this one, I definitely disagree. I think it was Earl Weaver that said, "all of that potential is what is going to get me fired."

Sorry Expos. You were right. Darn it.My take on the night is I still believe in Danny. I got to hear the last out of the 8th. He is doing better these days offensively, and he is terrific defensively. And also: why do we pitch to the guys who kill us? I don't get it. If WE see it coming, why doesn't Davey? Is it an honor thing? I must be missing something here.And finally, we get Morse back next game. Hurrah!

Ankiel. OMG. Davey Johnson brings in his secret weapon. Have to protect in 1-2. Would you expect anything different.Who will Davey blame this game? Wang for a horrible 4th inning? Perry for a lousy pitch to Stanton?

0 for 3 again with RISP in the 9th. I know you guys won't blame Eck, but he is the common donomnator with this crappy hitting approach. That is at least two guys now who have decided to let the game end on a ll called strike. TO me the worse thing you can do as a hitter.The catcher could have not done any worse.My real complaint though is in our first 18 losses did we have any that we were winning, and the starters let the other team catch up, or were all losses by starters before this they were behind anyway?This is three straight that the starters were gicen leads and kindly said, "No thank you we don't care to keep the lead we will throw the ball where it hangs and they can bag." Once given the lead the starter has it easy. Just pitch like you did before you had the lead.Granted our hitters are the real problem, and it is not being addressed. Looked great in Atlanta, and terrible in Miami. Just like in years past.However we are still in first place despite the pathetic effort of the last three games.Time to straighten up again.

I bet solano would have made contact. Ankiel is part of the old culture of losers, I cant wait until we are healthy and he can hit the road. Straight fast ball middle of the plate and he does not even swing… a loser

we may be the O's of the National league. look at how the Marlins started, they have a great manager in Ozzie who plays aggressive players with a swagger and responded by going 21-8 in May. It seems like we have to many wimps in our line up and once they start losing it becomes contagious. Bryce Harper is the exception, he at least goes down swinging and he swings hard

We were 1 for 7 in RISP. that makes us 2 for 19 for the series. I know if the people I am responsible for performe their jobs as poorly as that (and for the season now below .225), I would be canned.Noticed that the Angels have started hitting the cover off the ball since they fired their hitting coach and got a new one. I say it is worth a shot, as I ahve not seen him alk to one batter during a game yet (granted they don't show the dugout much, but when they do he is just writing in his notebook. What's the point nothing changes).